Today’s
The World Around Us
will be presented
in Hebrew and English,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Hebrew, Indonesian,
Italian, Japanese, Korean,
Malay, Mongolian,
Persian, Portuguese,
Russian, Spanish
and Thai.

In 1947,
in the Judean desert,
in the Qumran ruins,
occurred
one of the greatest
archaeological discoveries
of the 20th century:
the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The discovery
of these original writings
is very significant
as it allows us
to verify the authenticity
of our modern scriptures
and see in more detail
what was at the base
of many beliefs.
Our guide is the esteemed
Professor Yuval Peleg,
the Israeli Antiquities
Authority’s
head district archaeologist
for the Jordan Valley.
He is a prominent expert
who has made
extensive excavations
at Qumran
over many years.

The meaning
of the Dead Sea Scrolls,
it’s the most ancient
document of the Bible,
actually, part of the Bible.
And maybe there are
some connections
to ancient Christianity,
and for sure
how Judaism looked like
when the temple still
existed in Jerusalem.
That’s why
it’s so important for us
as Jews and for the world.
This is the most
ancient part of the Bible
ever found in archeology.

We are in a very dry area
and not much rain.
The temperature is stable,
almost all the year.
And several years ago,
we did some exams.
In order to
preserve the scrolls,
we put some equipment
inside the caves
in order to see
if there are changes
in the humidity
and the temperature
inside the caves,
and it’s stable all the time.
That’s why it is dry,
it’s stable temperature.
That’s
how the scrolls remained
for such a long time.

The scrolls are now
in Jerusalem in the labs.
They are under the control
of the Israeli Antiquities
Authority,
and they control
everything, the humidity,
the heat, in order to
preserve these scrolls.
That’s one of the
most important finds
in archeology of Israel,
and it’s very important
to preserve these scrolls
for the next generations.

Among the books
of the Dead Sea Scrolls
are familiar books
from the Hebrew Bible,
or Old Testament,
such as “Isaiah,”
“Genesis,” and “Psalms.”
But there are also
other books such as
“Community Rule,”
“Thanksgiving Hymns,”
and “The Rule
of Congregation.”
Who was this community?
Today, we will explore
the Qumran ruins
to find out not only
about the precious scrolls,
but also the civilization
and people who once
worked and dwelled here.

We're now about
two kilometers north
of the site of Qumran,
and behind me is the cliff.
We can see lots of caves
and in these caves,
one of these caves,
the first scrolls were found
by a Bedouin in 1947.
The two scrolls
were brought
by this Bedouin
to an antique dealer
in Bethlehem and then
bought by
Professor Sukenik,
who published
these two scrolls.
It’s a very quiet area with
lots of caves in the cliffs.
We can’t enter the caves
now because of the animals
and the wild animals that
are using these caves now.
But the caves
were used by people
in different periods
along the history,
and mainly in
the Second Temple Period.
Sometimes you can find
pieces of clothes
and ropes because
it’s a very dry area,
and even seeds,
like olive seeds,
fruits like olives,
pomegranates, dates
that people used to eat
in these caves while
they were in this area.
Sometimes
you can find coins
from that period, jewelry.

Most of the scrolls were
found in these two caves.
The traditional theory
regarding Qumran
talks about the Essenes
who sat here
and wrote the scrolls.
And actually,
several of the scrolls
are very similar
to what we know
about the Essenes
and their way of living
as a community.
Eating together,
praying together,
sitting in groups
in different communities
all around the country.

The site was excavated
at first in the early 50s
by a French archeologist
Roland de Vaux.
So when he excavated
the site, the biggest room
of the site must be
the dining room,
or as he called it,
the refractorium,
a Latin word used
usually for monasteries.
Second big room was
the place where they sat
and wrote all the scrolls,
and they called it
the scriptorium.
They lived together,
they ate together,
they wrote together,
everything was communal.

Since Father
Guérin Roland de Vaux’s
excavation, other views
emerged regarding
the Qumran site,
for instance,
that it was a trading center,
or a monastery for Jews.
Some have connected it
to the first Christians
and John the Baptist.

They’re saying that
John the Baptist was here
in the area.
We know that he lived
somewhere in this area.
He baptized Jesus
in the Jordan,
north of the Dead Sea.
We don’t know
if he was a part of
what we have in Qumran,
if it was a sect or not.
That depends on
what you believe.

You can divide the scrolls
into two different groups.
Some scrolls are
just books from the Bible,
just almost the same
that we know today.
That's most of the scrolls.
And we have other books
that can be related
maybe to the Essenes
or maybe to other groups
or sects in Judaism.
Maybe the first Christians –
Jesus and his students.

There's lots
about the way of living,
the way
how they see the future,
how they see
what's happening now
during their time.

The Essenes shared
everything equally.
They were well educated
and proficient
in healing with herbs.
They were vegetarians
and never touched alcohol.
According to Josephus,
they lived incredibly long
and healthy lives
of 120 years.
First-century
Jewish historian
Flavius Josephus
described the Essenes’ day
as follows:
“Before the sun rises,
they utter nothing
of the mundane things,
but only certain
ancestral prayers
to [the sun]…
after they have worked
strenuously
until the fifth hour
they are again assembled
in one area, where
they belt on linen covers
and wash their bodies
in frigid water.
After this purification
they gather
in a private hall,
into which none of those
who hold different views
may enter…”

We know
that most of the Jews
during that period
believed in the same
or did the same things
as Jews today.
But we know also
that there were groups
that did different things:
praying towards the sun,
different days.
But main ceremonies
are the exact ceremony
that's today.
Ritual bath are the same
ritual bath as today.

They used to make
bowls and cups
out of stone,
because stone remains,
according the Jewish law,
remains pure.

At one point,
a date sweetener industry
and a pottery industry
flourished at this site.
For their various activities,
they managed water,
a scare resource, very well.

They used the floods
in the valley
to collect the water and
to bring them to the site.
The valley is over there,
and from the valley,
they built the dam
and they took the water,
until the beginning
of the aqueduct
and food aqueduct
into the site.
They realized
that inside the water
there are lots of materials
that are suitable
for making pottery vessels.
So they moved the water
from system to systems
until the good material
sank in the systems
and they used it
for making pottery vessels,
and that’s
what we’re going to
look at to see in the site.

We’re standing next,
next to the aqueduct,
the main aqueduct
of the land, water
from the wadi (valley)
to the site.
And from the cliffs,
they built a wide aqueduct.
And it goes in an angle
to the site in order to
collect all the rain water
from this area.
This is the entrance of
the aqueduct into the site.
The main aqueduct enters
the site, and from here
the aqueduct leads
the water and divides it
into several systems
along its way
until the final aqueduct,
the final system
on the southeastern part
of the site, where
the clay, the pure clay,
sank in this pool and was
used by the inhabitants
for pottery production.

Thousands of pottery items
found at Qumran include
vessels for cooking,
serving, pouring,
drinking, and dining.
The same type
of unique pottery
was found both
in the living quarters
and in the caves
with the scrolls, a fact
that also demonstrates
the connection of the two.

These rooms were
divided by the inhabitants
into small pools
like these pools here.
And inside these pools,
they used to put the clay
from the systems,
mix it with water
and different materials
in order to
make it more flexible.
And then the potter took
the clay from here and
made the vessels out of it,
the bowls, the jars,
the cooking pots, and all
different pottery vessels
that were made
in the industry of Qumran.

When de Vaux discovered
the site in the 50s,
he found this room
on the southern part
of the site, the biggest room
of the site,
and he believed
that this is the place
where the Essenes,
the sect, sat and ate
together their meals.
After we excavated
the parts of the site,
we believe that this room,
the biggest room
of the site, must be the site
where the potters sat
and make
all the pottery vessels
before they took them
took them to the kilns.
And after they burnt
in the kilns, they used to
store these vessels
in this small room
in order to sell them
in the markets in Jericho
and Jerusalem or
in other sites in the area.

The clay sank
in these pools.
The potter took this clay,
mixed it
with other materials,
made the pottery vessel,
and burnt it in these kilns.
These two kilns
are two out of eight kilns
all over the site.
This is the first system
at the site of Qumran where
the first water entered.
And this is actually
a ritual bath.
The Jewish law
talks about purity.
And in order to be pure,
you must bathe yourself
in a ritual bath.
And you became clean
both physically
and spiritually.
So that’s why we have
two different staircases.

Just imagine that I am
one of the inhabitants
of the site during
the Second Temple period
and I want to purify
myself in the ritual bath.
So I’m going down
in one direction.
After I bathe myself,
when I’m pure,
I’m going out
in different staircases…

Our appreciation,
Professor Peleg,
the Israeli Antiquities
Authority, and all others
working to increase
our understanding
of Qumran
and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Thanks for bringing
to life the world
of Qumran’s pious
and talented inhabitants.
May such findings
of this ancient heritage
continue to bring
beneficial knowledge
and inspire wonder.

Gracious viewers,
thank you
for your company
for today’s program.
Now please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television for
Enlightening Entertainment,
coming up next after
Noteworthy News.
May you go with joy
and purity of heart.

HOST (IN HEBREW): In １９４７, in the Judean desert, in the Qumran ruins, occurred one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the ２０th century: the Dead Sea Scrolls.The discovery of these original writings is very significant as it allows us to verify the authenticity of our modern scriptures and see in more detail what was at the base of many beliefs. Our guide is the esteemed Professor Yuval Peleg, the Israeli Antiquities Authority’s head district archaeologist for the Jordan Valley. He is a prominent expert who has made extensive excavations at Qumran over many years.(In English)

Yuval Peleg(m):The meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it’s the most ancient document of the Bible, actually, part of the Bible. And maybe there are some connections to ancient Christianity, and for sure how Judaism looked like when the temple still existed in Jerusalem. That’s why it’s so important for us as Jews and for the world. This is the most ancient part of the Bible ever found in archeology.

We are in a very dry area and not much rain. The temperature is stable, almost all the year. And several years ago, we did some exams. In order to preserve the scrolls, we put some equipment inside the caves in order to see if there are changes in the humidity and the temperature inside the caves, and it’s stable all the time. That’s why it is dry, it’s stable temperature. That’s how the scrolls remained for such a long time.